


Test The Limits

by thedeviltohisangel



Category: X Men, X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:20:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27311773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedeviltohisangel/pseuds/thedeviltohisangel
Summary: She spent so long thinking she was alone. That every step she took would be met with resistance and an uncomfortable burning sensation that one feels when it is new. She remembers how stiff her back would get at the dinner table under the gaze of her mother’s watchful eye. Remembers how every night she wished she would look away and that one night when she did. When she used her mind to turn her mother’s head. And hold it there. Even as she asked her to let it go. To stop.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Original Female Character
Kudos: 3





	Test The Limits

She spent so long thinking she was alone. That every step she took would be met with resistance and an uncomfortable burning sensation that one feels when it is new. She remembers how stiff her back would get at the dinner table under the gaze of her mother’s watchful eye. Remembers how every night she wished she would look away and that one night when she did. When she used her mind to turn her mother’s head. And hold it there. Even as she asked her to let it go. To stop.

She remembers the first night her powers burned in her chest. So hot she thought they were going to explode out of her. And when they did, she wasn’t afraid of them. She loved the sensation. The darkness turning into light and escaping out of her wherever it could. Torching the house she had felt trapped in her entire life. And the way she felt free as she floated away from it.

She remembers so much. Nearly everything. But she is especially cursed when it comes to remembering him. 

It was Switzerland, 1962. She had made a living for herself as a negotiator for businessmen who preferred to stay in the shadows. The notion that she could control one’s mind to get the deal those paying for wanted was unknown but benefitted her greatly. She was in demand and never wanted for anything. She thought the man behind the desk would be just as easy. And he was. It was the intruder that was the problem.

“Excuse me, but this is my appointment,” she said coolly as she heard the door open but didn’t turn to look, instead making sure that the man’s hand kept moving to sign the paper.

“My business is much more important.” She watched the pen click shut and fly against the wall without the touch of any human. But the man behind the desk did not move.

“I guess we’ve both mastered some tricks.” She stood and turned to face the man who had interrupted her. “And you are?”

“Someone seeking revenge.”

“What could a man as weak as he do to someone with the gifts you have?” He pulled his sleeve up and showed the numbers that marked him like he was an animal. She knew what they meant. “What does he have that will help you in your quest?”

“He can tell me where the man who made me into a monster is.” He showed her the marked gold.

“It’s illegal to be in possession of this,” she mused with more than enough on her tone that he knew she was being facetious. “Maybe you can help this man get the answers he is looking for.”

“I know nothing about pieces with that marking,” the man said with a gasp as she allowed him to sit up rigidly in his chair.

“I don’t tolerate liars.” Before she could act, she sensed her new companion was. The choking sound from the banker and the look of anguish subsiding slightly when the capped tooth came out of his mouth. “Argentina.” The man was screaming it in his head, unable to get the words out through the blood.

“It was nice meeting you,” he said with a tip of his head. 

“No.” He froze in his steps as she took over his mind. “You’re the first person with gifts I’ve met. Let me go with you.” And she spent the same amount of time regretting those words as she did cherishing them. That decision had set her life on a path she would never be able to recover from. 

In Argentina, she kept quiet and kept back. She watched Erik and studied the way he went about his business. She didn’t use her powers once and was impressed to see that he could hold his own. The way the metal would bend to his will, fascinated her. She couldn’t look away nor did she want to. There was something addicting about having power yourself but also in watching someone wield the power they had. She was content to remain propped on the stool in the corner as he dispatched the three pigs in the bar.

“Would you like a beer?” The thrill of the kill had left him breathless, a strand of hair falling into his eyes as he went behind the bar.

“Are they any good?” He shrugged.

“It’s German.” She took that as a yes and accepted the glass he handed to her. 

“I felt their pain. As you killed them.” 

“I’m sorry you did but not that they felt it.”

“I know. I wanted you to know that it wasn’t peaceful for them. That they didn’t drift away but burned on the way down.” It seemed like that was what he was after, at least in her eyes. Revenge wasn’t clean. And she wasn’t sure that it was going to bring him peace when all was said and done.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely. It was an odd understanding between them. Erik wondered if she knew what he needed to hear because she read his mind or because he was that easy to read.

“I know what you’ll do once you find him but what happens after?” What happens after someone has fulfilled their life purpose? She was curious to know the answer for her own path.

“I’m not sure. I just need to get there. I can’t worry about the after.” 

“Well, unfortunately, I can’t tell the future,” she replied with a smile.

“What can you do?” he whispered back. 

“Lots of things. But I can’t control all of them.” He nodded in understanding. It made sense why she had been travelling the world alone. Better to only hurt yourself than someone you loved. “Can I?” she asked as she motioned towards his head. He nodded and she cradled the side of his forehead, a warmth spreading through him he hadn’t felt in many years.

“That feels nice,” he murmured as his eyes drifted closed.

“I can read your present but also your past. Sort through everything you have stored up there and show it to both of us.” She picked a happy memory, maybe Erik’s happiest. Him and his mother around the menorah. There weren’t that many happy ones and instead of risking the bubble bursting, she pulled away and brought them back to reality.

“I hadn’t thought about that in so long.”

“Sometimes we have to remind ourselves of the good. Even if it isn’t what is driving us. It is still a piece of us.” Perhaps she should take a bit of her own advice.

Miami was where it all began to crumble around them. She told Erik she wanted to sit and watch from the dock. That she wasn’t interested in getting her hair wet nor was she interested in meeting the monster that had hurt him so deeply. Completely immersed in  _ To Kill A Mockingbird _ , she almost missed the tingling on the edges of her mind. She had never felt it before. It felt like someone was trying to get in. 

_ Another telepath _ , the voice inside her head spoke. It sounded male. And British.

_ Who are you _ ? She shared his surprise that there was another similar to her. 

_ My name is Charles Xavier. It’s a pleasure to meet you. _

_ You don’t know that. _ She pushed him from her mind and moved to the edge of the water. She could see the ship Erik had been targeting but couldn’t see him. Closing her eyes, she used all her strength to lift herself off the ground and move out towards the lights of the ship in the distance. It was then that she saw the military ship approaching as well. And a man on the balcony looking at her like he was studying her. She immediately knew that was Charles.

_ Erik. There are people here. Mutants. They look like they are with the government. You have to leave. _ There was silence. She could sense him below her but knew he was too focused on his revenge to receive her message. 

_ Don’t get yourself caught in the crossfire _ she heard Charles say, back in her head as the gun ships began to race in her direction.  _ Come with me. I can help you- _ His offer was cut short as one of the men with Shaw produced two tornados in his palms and sent them towards the Americans.

“Shit,” she whispered to herself. How many different kinds of mutants were there? Why had she been naive enough to think she was the only one? Why had the universe let her? She didn’t have time to dwell on it as an anchor came shooting from the water. At the last second, she ducked under the chain but the loss of concentration left her plummeting towards the sea below. Her legs pushed frantically towards the surface, urged along by her lungs screaming for air. 

“Let it go!” As she gasped she heard Charles’ voice again. This time it wasn’t in her head but out loud. He was screaming from where he stood on deck. And it only took a moment to figure out why. Erik was desperately trying to gain control of a submarine that she assumed Shaw was trying to escape in. “You’ll drown!” But there was no convincing him. He would never see the benefit in letting go.

_ I’m too weak. You have to let go for him. _ Charles didn’t hesitate. He dove into the water as soon as she left his head. She wonders how he was so trusting. She wonders if he knew there were others like him in the world or if she was the first he had met as well. The anger of Erik as the submarine motored away was strong enough that it made her nauseous. The two men surfacing at the same time that her world began to spin.

“Sera?” Erik swam to her as her head began to loll to one side.

“The fire,” she whispered as his arms wrapped around her. 

“Do you know what’s happening?” he asked the other man. Maybe he could use his abilities to ail her of hers.

“Let’s get her on board and I’ll have a look.” 

  
  
  
  


She woke up in a stiff bed with a thin sheet. It was nothing like she was used to. The room was plain and smelled clinical. It wasn’t prison, she thinks, because her wrists weren’t shackled to the bed. But it certainly didn’t feel like a home.

“You’re awake.” She looked and saw Erik entering the room. He was holding a book.

“Yes,” she replied quietly. They regarded each other for a moment. What a predicament they had found themselves in. Maybe she should have let him walk in the bank that day.

“Would you like some water? Something to eat?”

“Both,” she said without any hesitation in her voice. He nodded once and disappeared from the room again. She could assume she had been asleep for longer than just one night. Could assume it was from the output of energy staying afloat in Miami required. She could also assume that her and Erik had been taken in by Charles and his government friends. For what purpose she did not know but she needed to find out.

_ No harm will come to you, Sera.  _ She looked around the room but knew she wouldn’t see him.

_ I’d appreciate no more intrusions unless you ask me for permission first. _ It was odd. Even when he wasn’t speaking, she could still sense he was there. She could tell he wasn’t rooting around looking at her thoughts or her memories. At least he had some sense of private space.

_ We brought you to a CIA research facility. Where you can recover safely. _

_ And Erik? Did he agree to this? _ She couldn’t imagine he would. Not with his history and knowledge of the horrors that are committed in the name of science.

_ I don’t want to speak on his behalf. _

_ You were in his mind long enough. You know what he is feeling.  _

_ He was comforted by the fact that he was no longer alone. _ And for whatever reason a pang went through her heart. She hadn’t joined him on his quest for the companionship or because of his addictive personality. She had joined because she didn’t wish to be alone any longer. And she thought that was what she provided him. She supposes she was wrong.

_ Goodbye, Charles. Next time, you can find the will to speak to me in person _ . She pushed him out and locked the door behind him. It was just in time for Erik to come back, a glass in one hand and a plate in the other.

“The food here is tolerable, nothing too spectacular,” he prefaced as he placed it on the table next to her.

“Thank you. Apparently sleeping takes up a lot of energy.” She chugged the water quickly and tucked into the piece of chicken with ferocity.

“We think it was more of a recharge than sleep. Charles said you have this...this energy inside of you. He didn’t know how to explain it.”

“I don’t know how to either. And I live with it.” She placed the glass back where it came from, Erik catching her hands before they could land back in her lap.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he whispered sincerely. 

“I won’t let them hurt you either,” she whispered back. In a moment of weakness, he kissed her knuckles and let his lips linger. She felt the energy long after he pulled away. “Thank you.” He nodded. Maybe neither of them were alone after all.

**Author's Note:**

> send in any one shot requests for this pairing!


End file.
